MUSSELMAN MAKES HER MARK Attacker Maddie Musselman Is Team USA’S Latest Breakout Star
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THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF USA WATER POLO MUSSELMAN MAKES HER MARK Attacker Maddie Musselman Is Team USA’s Latest Breakout Star VOLUME 32, NUMBER 4, WINTER 2017 SOCAL & VANGUARD TAKE CHAMPIONS CUP p. 10 THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF USA WATER POLO VOL. 32, NUM. 4, Winter 2017 What’s Inside... USA WATER POLO NATIONAL OFFICE ON THE COVER . 2124 Main Street, Suite 240, Maddie Musselman Inside Water ...................2 Huntington Beach, CA 92648 (714) 500-5445 business • (714) 500-5449 membership • (714) 960-2431 fax MUSSELMAN during competition at USA WATER POLO NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER MAKES HER MARK the 2017 FINA World 5 Meters ......................4 11360 Valley Forge Ave., Attacker Maddie Musselman Is Team USA’s Latest Breakout Star Los Alamitos, CA 90720 Championships in WEB SITE SOCAL & Hungary. Water Polo Times ..............8 VANGUARDTAKE www.usawaterpolo.org CHAMPIONSCUP Photo by Beeldboot CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER p. 10 Christopher Ramsey A Day in the Life ...............26 CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Marty Samuels CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Jim Callahan Water Polo Scene ..............27 CHIEF MEMBERSHIP & ADVANCEMENT OFFICER Stephanie London Krogius From the Deck ................30 CHIEF HIGH PERFORMANCE OFFICER John Abdou DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Greg Mescall Lob Shots ....................34 DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Christy Sicard DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Hot Shots ....................36 Katherine Schmidt DIRECTOR OF SPORT GROWTH Mark Carney DIRECTOR OF EVENTS ReCaps Ryan Cunnane DIRECTOR OF FINANCE Scott Aubin DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES 2017 Golf Joni Walbring Tournaments . 14 HIGH PERFORMANCE MANAGER pg12 ReCaps Anne Laurence HIGH PERFORMANCE ASSISTANT MANAGER Collegiate Cup . 16 Kathryn Manderino Rock-tober FINANCE MANAGER Fay Hu TEXAS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Joe Linehan Rising Also In This Issue SENIOR EVENTS COORDINATOR Katie Wieber 12 and under event sees largest field ever MARKETING SERVICES SPECIALIST Yiyon Lee Maddie Musselman . 20 MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR Alexis Lupton EVENTS COORDINATOR 2018 Events Calendar . 25 Bryson Walker VIDEO PRODUCER Sherie Key EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CEO Mai Lam MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR/ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Meghan Nee BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael Graff (Chairman), Rudy Baldoni, Look Ahead... Houston Hall, Ray Kennedy, Kay Krill, Jeremy Laster, Sheldon Pang, Walt Price, Alfonso Pulido, Steve Rodosky, Bill Smith, Jessica Steffens, Robert Sternfels, Next Issue Peter Varellas, Brenda Villa > Alex Obert Gets His Shot EDITOR Greg Mescall CONTRIBUTORS Jim Cullingham, Kelley Casey, Kelley L. Cox, Angela Kraus, Paul Ciaravino, Jonathan Moore, Matt Szabo, Michael Randazzo, Dave Williamson, Brian Alexander, Chris Ramsey, Dr. Naresh Rao, Elizabeth Judge, Daniel Cavallo PRINTING pg22 Quad Graphics, 555 South 108th Street, West Allis, WI 53214 > 2018 National League Coverage CREATIVE Adrenalin, Inc., 54 West 11th Ave., Denver, CO 80204 Alabama 303-454-8888 • goadrenalin.com USA Water Polo Skip Shot Magazine (ISSN# 15507580) is published Splashball four times per year by United States Water Polo, Inc., located at 2124 Main Street, Suite 240, Huntington Beach, CA 92648. Periodicals postage is paid at Birmingham YMCA welcomes water polo Huntington Beach, CA 92648 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Skip Shot Magazine, United States Water usawaterpolo.org 1 Polo, Inc., 2124 Main Street, Suite 240, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 INSIDE WATER letter from the CEO, Christopher Ramsey USA WATER POLO Progress at USA Water Polo— A Year-End Assessment More than 10 years have passed since I joined USA Water Polo. The organization triggered a sea change when it revised bylaws in 2006. Those changes led to a new kind of Board of Directors—and ultimately a new way of thinking about growing our sport, and achieving our federation’s competitive potential. Today, USA Water Polo has never membership and play opportunities. We also have international rules remain in flux. We also await been stronger. worked in concert with the U.S. Olympic Com- new FINA standards to evaluate and assign ref- mittee to implement stronger “Safe Sport” athlete erees in international competition. And we are The women’s national team is the envy of the sports standards to further protect our members from working with only a fraction of the resources we world. The squad holds every international title sexual and other kinds of misconduct. need to realize our many ambitions. in women’s water polo, and it earned those titles with talent and discipline that have inspired us and National Junior Olympics is the largest water polo Despite the challenges, I remain enthusiastic about elevated our sport to new heights. Although the tournament in the world, with nearly a thousand USA Water Polo’s future. The people in our sport, men’s team has been up and down since the 1990s, teams consisting of nearly 10,000 athletes, along from top to bottom, are simply too gifted and too there are reasons for optimism. The men finished with coaches, officials, and spectators. In all we principled to accept anything less than the high- fourth this summer in the FINA World League produced nine tournaments this year, and we plan est level of performance. Each week our coaches Super Final, held in Moscow, and slipped from the to hold even more next year. ODP set new highs are teaching literally thousands of young men and final only after losing to eventual champion Serbia in participation with nearly 4,000 athletes taking women the value of teamwork, discipline, and in a shootout. The same team, however, finished part. Since a retooling in 2015, member satisfac- attention to fundamentals. Our board of directors a disappointing ninth at FINA World Champion- tion with ODP has soared. and our staff also are filled with sharp, principled people who put our sport first. The aforemen ships after a loss to eventual winner Croatia and a Financially, we project to close annual operations - stunning upset by Japan in bracket play. The men’s with a modest surplus for the tenth consecutive tioned results represent a lot of good old-fashioned team remains a work in progress. year. Since 2006, our annual budget has grown blocking and tackling that’s becoming emblem- from $3.9 million to $11.3 million. During the atic of our culture—characterized by toughness, Both the men’s and women’s programs showed creativity, and a commitment to excellence. strength at the age-group levels. The women cap- same period, we have retired more than $700,000 tured the World University Games championship in debt while building a cash reserve of more than Finally, here’s a fun fact: We should finish 2017 and finished a highly competitive fifth at the- Ju $600,000—a positive swing of $1.3 million. on the receiving end of more than $1.6 million nior World Championships, losing their sole game We are supporting the addition of new NCAA in charitable donations from nearly 5,000 of the tournament to Greece—in Greece—by a varsity programs as well—including an agreement patrons. Since dollars translate into added single goal. The men played well in Junior World that will allow us to produce an NCAA Division resources, I want to thank each donor who helped Championships despite missing a couple of eli- III Championship starting in 2019. We believe this USA Water Polo fight the good fight by putting a few more arrows in our federation’s quiver. In the gible Olympians due to collegiate scheduling con- championship will drive further adoption of var- larger picture, this represents 5,000 people who are flicts. Where the men’s program made a statement sity water polo at NCAA schools. Our relationship betting on us. That makes for encouraging odds was by winning Gold at the Darko Cucic youth with the U.S. Olympic Committee has never been and a promising future. championship in Serbia. Playing in Belgrade, the stronger, with the USOC working as a trusted team beat Serbia in the semifinals and Croatia in partner in our high-performance programs as the final. well as with other macro sport issues, such as cam- From a membership perspective, October 2017 paigning for clean sport at the international level. was our 58th consecutive month of membership Without question there are plenty of challenges growth over prior year, aand we will finish the year ahead. Our men seek a breakthrough to demon- with more than 45,000 active members. In what’s strate they are capable of sustained competitive Chris becoming a new trend, our sport is growing sig- excellence. The women must try to stay on top of nificantly faster outside of California than within. the world, knowing that every team on the planet Texas, the Midwest, Oregon, Utah, and the North- is gunning for them. Our game needs to become east all are experiencing significant increases in more spectator- and media-friendly, yet the sport’s If you have a comment or question concerning Skip Shot magazine, send in a letter to the editor. LETTERS TO You can write to Skip Shot Magazine: THE EDITOR c/o USA Water Polo, 2124 Main Street, Suite 240, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 or 2 send an email to: [email protected] Official Sponsor of USA Water Polo SUPPORT TEAM USA: USA WATER POLO AFFINITY CREDIT CARD Balance Transfer No balance and transfer fees Promotion runs Jan. 1 - Mar. 31, 2018 No annual fee Support USA Water Polo with % No enrollment fee your purchases 0 APR* Earn rewards points for every USA Water Polo receives a for 6 months purchase with our EZ Rewards percentage value back for every program** purchase Disclosure: *APR: Annual Percentage Rate. 0% for 6 billing cycles from the date the account is opened. Thereafter, APR will revert to as low as 7.90% APR. **EZ Rewards program allows you to get 1% cash back or earn rewards points when you use your Affinity Credit Card for purchases only.